Teachers to protest state budget cuts Thursday

HESPERIA • During both their morning and evening commutes on Thursday, Hesperians will see local schoolteachers taking to the streets to protest state budget cuts.

"We're asking the public to let their legislators know the effects of what they're doing, the cuts they're making, is having on education, (how it) is affecting kids in the classroom," said Thomas Kerman, president of the Hesperia Teachers Association.

Thursday's protests — one from 6 to 8 a.m. at Ranchero Road and Escondido Avenue near Oak Hills High School and one from 2 to 5 p.m. on the Main Street Overpass in the middle of the city — are part of a statewide "Start the Day for Students" campaign organized by the California Teachers Association. The CTA is attempting to call attention to the degree that California's legislators are balancing the state budget with education cuts.

"We've been taking the bulk of the cuts," said Kerman. "When the state makes cuts, we've taken 70 percent (of them). ... We've taken $17 billion in cuts in the last two years and now the state wants to cut more."

Similar protests are scheduled to take place on March 4 throughout the Victor Valley.

For the full story, read Monday's Daily Press. To subscribe to the Daily Press in print or online, call (760) 241-7755 or click here.

Beau Yarbrough can be reached at 760-956-7108 or at beau@hesperiastar.com.

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